Joe Dodd
Encyclopedia
Joe Dodd is a retired English
professional
darts
player who competed in the 1980s, reaching a highest world ranking of number 8.
and Oxfordshire
at county level, where he went by the nickname of The Bulldog.
The biggest win of Joe's career came in 1982 when he won the prestigious Embassy LV tournament beating Yorkshireman Brian Langworth in the final.
He competed at the 1982 BDO World Darts Championship
and defeated Tim Brown 2-1 in the first round but was defeated in the second round 2-0 by John Lowe
.
Joe also enjoyed great success in the playing for Tottenham in the London superleague, at the time probably the strongest in the country. In 1983 he enjoyed a profitable evening, winning the singles, pairs (with Dave Whitcombe
) and the mixed pairs (with Sharon Kemp) on the same night.
Joe made 11 appearances for England
, winning 8 matches. He made his debut at the Sunderland Empire Theatre against Scotland
, beating Jocky Wilson
3-2 for his first win.
Joe worked as a darts professional from 1979–1988, most of his work came from darts exhibitions at pubs, clubs and holiday camps. His exhibitions were regarded as being one of the most entertaining of the 80's, where he would demonstrate a number of darting trickshots such as beating opponents throwing his darts backwards or when throwing 6 inch nails. He would also put a newspaper over the dartboard and hit bullseyes or 180's through the paper! He would often appear at exhibitions alongside Whitcombe.
Joe now lives in Buckingham and works as a forklift truck driver. He still plays darts locally and represents the Shellswell Inn in the Oxfordshire superleague.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
professional
Professional
A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...
darts
Darts
Darts is a form of throwing game where darts are thrown at a circular target fixed to a wall. Though various boards and games have been used in the past, the term "darts" usually now refers to a standardised game involving a specific board design and set of rules...
player who competed in the 1980s, reaching a highest world ranking of number 8.
Early life
At the age of 5, Joe contracted polio and spent the majority of the next 5 years of his life in hospital. It was during this time that he dreamt of playing sport for his country, but he had no idea what event it would be.Darts career
Joe started playing darts aged 23. Towards the end of the 1970s, he had begun to forge a strong reputation on the county scene and in open tournaments. He represented both BuckinghamshireBuckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
and Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
at county level, where he went by the nickname of The Bulldog.
The biggest win of Joe's career came in 1982 when he won the prestigious Embassy LV tournament beating Yorkshireman Brian Langworth in the final.
He competed at the 1982 BDO World Darts Championship
1982 BDO World Darts Championship
The 1982 Embassy World Darts Championship was the fifth year that the British Darts Organisation had staged a world championship. For the fourth successive year the tournament was staged at Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke-on-Trent....
and defeated Tim Brown 2-1 in the first round but was defeated in the second round 2-0 by John Lowe
John Lowe
John Lowe is an English darts player who was one of the best-known men in darts during the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in the United Kingdom. Lowe is one of only five players to have won the World Championship 3 times.-Biography:Lowe won the World Championship title in three different decades -...
.
Joe also enjoyed great success in the playing for Tottenham in the London superleague, at the time probably the strongest in the country. In 1983 he enjoyed a profitable evening, winning the singles, pairs (with Dave Whitcombe
Dave Whitcombe
Dave Whitcombe is an English professional darts player who won several major tournaments and reached two World Championship Finals. He had a long professional career between 1980 and 1992.-Biography:...
) and the mixed pairs (with Sharon Kemp) on the same night.
Joe made 11 appearances for England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, winning 8 matches. He made his debut at the Sunderland Empire Theatre against Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, beating Jocky Wilson
Jocky Wilson
John Thomas Wilson known as "Jocky" Wilson, is a former Scottish darts champion. He retired from the game in 1995.Wilson was twice World professional Darts Champion in 1982 and 1989...
3-2 for his first win.
Joe worked as a darts professional from 1979–1988, most of his work came from darts exhibitions at pubs, clubs and holiday camps. His exhibitions were regarded as being one of the most entertaining of the 80's, where he would demonstrate a number of darting trickshots such as beating opponents throwing his darts backwards or when throwing 6 inch nails. He would also put a newspaper over the dartboard and hit bullseyes or 180's through the paper! He would often appear at exhibitions alongside Whitcombe.
Joe now lives in Buckingham and works as a forklift truck driver. He still plays darts locally and represents the Shellswell Inn in the Oxfordshire superleague.